It's so small compared to Spain. England could've probably taken a crack at Portugal too.
1 Answers 2014-02-02
Anything that would help. Muster roles, equipment receipts, anything that would help me in furthering my research. Thanks in advance.
1 Answers 2014-02-02
2 Answers 2014-02-02
1 Answers 2014-02-02
All I can think about is torture, evil religious leaders in power, starvation, sickness, abuse of women, etc.
What are some positive aspects of the Middle Ages in Europe?
3 Answers 2014-02-02
I was reading Jean Froissart's chronicles recently, and I noticed how he describes the rulers of England and France directly fighting in the battles of the Hundred Years War. As I understand, this was considered an obligation of kings during the time. I'm wondering when this practice began to cease. I remember Napolean participated in some of the wars during his rule, but I'm unsure if there were any heads of state beyond him who did.
1 Answers 2014-02-02
Hey /r/askhistorians
So recently for a class focusing on sexuality in the Middle Ages, we've had to read a few chapters from Ruth Mazo Karras's book Sexuality in Medieval Europe: Doing Unto Others. In her book, Karras presents the following arguments:
People in the Medieval era weren't as sexually repressed as we believe them to be. This perception can mainly be blamed on the Victorians. She supports this claim by bringing up how writing or images from the Medieval era can either reflect a very religious, and sexually repressed view, or a more liberal view of sex (I am not sure how to phrases that well, but she does bring up peasants having sex in the hedges, more of an example than evidence)
Sexuality, again, is a Victorian invention. When we talk about someone being homosexual, heterosexual, or bisexual, we re using words that were invented by the Victorians. In terms of language, the Medieval era was sexually ambiguous. The most interesting claim she makes in regards to language and sexuality is that a man or woman was judged to be more feminine or masculine based on the role that they played during intercourse. This role was either dominant/aggressive, or submissive/passive. Alternately, she mentions that the translation of certain Old/Middle French words reveals a penetrator/penetrated relationship. Karras' is essentially suggesting that Medieval views on sexuality might resemble earlier Roman or Greek views on sexuality (although Medieval views obviously differ in some aspects).
What do you think of this idea? Can it be supported? I think it adds an interning dimension when viewing, or thinking about Medieval sexuality. Also, I read that Jesus' sexuality wasn't set in stone until the fourth or fifth century, which leads me to wonder just how much we can apply the idea of sexuality to different eras, especially those eras that different religious texts are based on, and the events they portray. How far do you think we can go in regards to applying this idea?
4 Answers 2014-02-02
This question mainly comes to mind, because I see things like the invasion of Poland in 1920, and then the forced (re)annexations of territory previously held by Russia before Brest-Litovsk, such as Ukraine/Lithuania/Finland (failed)/Estonia/etc and think that their main goal was reconquering what they had lost after WW1. But this is pure speculation, as I know very little about the USSR in that time period other than Stalin coming to power and things associated with that.
1 Answers 2014-02-02
How did they treat ancient ruins or fossils found throughout the empire?
4 Answers 2014-02-02
Last quarter I was in a college US History class and I remember her saying that they were responsible for 90% of their population or nearly 100 million Natives even before the 13 colonies
1 Answers 2014-02-02
does anyone know of any writings on european history sprung from non-western institutions by non-western scholars? (and then preferably.. somehow translated into english..)
3 Answers 2014-02-02
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1 Answers 2014-02-02
I know that women were encouraged to play musical instruments like the Piano (Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann), virginal, violin etc. But it would seem that playing a cello would be:
a) difficult to play in a skirt
b) very immodest since it required spreading the legs
1 Answers 2014-02-02
So I was on a night out with a couple of my friends yesterday and at one point I started talking to this mate of mine studying philosophy. Anyway, we ended up discussing morals and if people are inherently good/bad or not. He claimed that for example ancient Greeks did not differentiate between 'bad' and 'evil', apparently Nietzsche had argued something like that. For example the Greek gods did a lot of bad things but they weren't considered 'evil' because such judging view of ethics (someone is 'good' and someone is 'evil') didn't really pop up before the Judeo-Christian worldview spread all over Europe.
So was he talking the truth or just bullshitting someone whose knowledge of ancient civilisations is quite lacking?
2 Answers 2014-02-02
FRG/GDR and similar situation notwithstanding, as the original separation was forced upon the original unified nation-state.
1 Answers 2014-02-02
Let me give you the context of this question: my friend is studying for his PhD in Vietaneme History and made an off-the-cuff comment that I am very curious about. Essentially, he posited that Confuscious was so revered after his death in China, that Chinese scholars and learned men/women dedicated their lives to memorizing his life and teachings, rather than devoting time and energy to new areas of knowledge. He claimed that this stiffled innovation and progress in China for several decades/centuries, as all the brilliant minds were consumed with memorizing the old,r ather than discovering the new.
Is there any truth to this statement? If so, what impact did it have on China overall?
1 Answers 2014-02-02
I recently read a article saying that Chilvary was a Arabic concept that was adopted by the Europeans from the Moors in spain, which got me to wondering about this question. Also, if there were Arabic Knights, did they wear suits of armor like their European equivalent?
1 Answers 2014-02-02
Could the world map been upside-down?
1 Answers 2014-02-02
Today:
Welcome to this week's instalment of /r/AskHistorians' Day of Reflection. Nobody can read everything that appears here each day, so in this thread we invite you to share anything you'd like to highlight from the last week - an interesting discussion, an informative answer, an insightful question that was overlooked, or anything else.
2 Answers 2014-02-02